Caps with pouring spouts



Feb. 8, 1966 H. P. ABBOTT 3,233,798

CAPS WITH POURING SPOUTS Filed Aug. 8, 1965 flk INVENTOR. K HORACE n ABBOTT his ATTORNEYS- United States Patent 3,233,798 CAPS WITH POURING SPOUTS Horace P. Abbott, Old Greenwich, Conn., assignor to Lever Brothers Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Maine Filed Aug. 8, 1963, Ser. No. 300,755 9 Claims. (Cl. 222-541) This invention relates to improvements in caps for containers for liquids and, more particularly, to caps having integral, sealed spouts for facilitating the use of the contents of the container.

Many liquid products are being marketed in containers of which the caps have spouts with ends which are adapted to be cut off to open the container so as to enable the product to be poured or forced out through a small, orifice in a stream in line with the axis of the container by tilting the container downwardly and applying pressure to it.

It has been found that the consumer generally holds the container upright and grips it tightly when he is cutting the closed end from the spout. Very often, particularly with relatively flexible containers, the liquid in the container thereupon squirts out in an upward vertical stream because of the pressure exerted on the container by the users grip. Inasmuch as the container may then be tilted toward the user, the liquid may and sometimes is squirted onto the users person or clothing. Being sprayed with the product while opening the container is a source of extreme irritation to the consumer and results in the loss of the sellers product goodwill. Despite this disadvantage of present types of containers having snip-off ends which are horizontally cut 0E, their convenience and efiiciency make them widely accepted.

As pointed out, those incidents occur because, to prevent the liquid from pouring out when it opens, the user holds the container upright while cutting olf the spout. At the same time, the user fails to consider the possibility of the liquid being forced out under pressure. Consequently, the user is not careful to aim the spout away from the face and body.

This invention is directed toward preventing those incidents. In accordance with the invention, a cap, which may be of any known screw-on or snap-on type, is provided with a spout at its top having a closed end which may be cut off to open the container, the spout being formed as a horizontally elongated nipple projecting upwardly from the cap top and containing a passage which terminates in a closed end at the top of the nipple. The passage is opened by diagonally snipping off a top corner of the nipple.

It will be apparent that spouts formed in accordance with the invention are adapted to be opened by a generally diagonal cut of scissors or a knife, and that the most natural and likely way to open them is to hold the container with the prospective opening directed away from the body and to cut with the scissors or knife pointed away from the body. In the event any fluid does squirt out,.it will be directed harmlessly away from the user. Also, the container may be placed on a table or counter to support it when the downward force of the cutting instrument is imposed, thereby eliminating the necessity of gripping it tightly and thus making it much less likely that any liquid will be forced out under pressure.

For a better understanding of the invention reference may be made to the following description of exemplary embodiments, taken in conjunction with the figures of the appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of a cap in accordance with the invention and in place on a container;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the cap of FIG. 1 taken through the vertical axis of the cap;

3,233,?98 Patented Feb. 8, 1965 FIG. 3 is a view in cross section of the cap taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the cap of FIG. 1, the view showing details of the spout;

FIG. 5 is a pictorial view of another embodiment of the cap; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary plan view of the cap of FIG. 5, the view showing details of the spout.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 5, a cap 10 or 10 for a container 12 comprises a generally flat top 14 or 14' and an annular sleeve 16 or 16 projecting downwardly from the perimeter of the top. Formed on the internal wall of sleeve 16 or 16 are threads 18 (FIG. 2) by which the cap may be screwed onto a nozzle 17 upstanding from the container 12 and having an externally threaded upper end (not shown). Alternatively, the cap may be of the well known snap-on type or may be fixedly fastened to the container. Downstanding from the underside of cap top 14 or 14 is a short, internal annular sealing flange 19 (FIG. 2) spaced radially inward of sleeve 16 or 16 and adapted to fit into and to make a sealing engagement with the upper end of nozzle 17. The cap may be removed for pouring, if desired, by unscrewing the cap to detach it from the nozzle. Such unscrewing is facilitated by shallow concave depressions or flutes 21 or 21 formed on the outer surface of the sleeve 16 to permit the cap to be conveniently gripped by the users fingers.

In the embodiment of the cap 10 shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a spout 20 projects upwardly from the top 14 and is preferably formed integrally therewith. The spout 20 is in the form of a short nipple containing a slot-like passage 22 which is closed at its upper end by a Wall portion 23 externally providing a flat top for the spout. The spout 20 is horizontally elongated such that the exposed exterior surface thereof (i.e., the surface which can be cut) is of greater horizontal dimension than vertical dimension. As best shown by FIG. 4, such exposed exterior surface of the spout includes two smooth major outside faces 25 on opposite sides of the vertical plane passing through the axis of passage 22 in the direction of horizontal elongation of the spout structure. The surface areas of those faces 25 are planar except for faired junctures thereof with the upper surface of the top 14 of the cap. Within their planar regions, the surface areas of the two faces 25 are partly upward facing as well as outward facing, wherefore the faces approach each other as they extend upwardly. The two faces 25 render the spout 20 of wedge shape.

The passage 22 in the spout is opened by the cutting off from the upper right hand corner of spout 20 of a closed triangular snip-off portion 24 of a size sufficient to include a portion of the passage. Such corner portion of appropriate size is demarcated from the rest of spout 20, for example, by a pair of raised rounded ribs or beads 26 formed on opposite ones of the faces 25 and extending in a common plane diagonally downward from the top 23 of spout 20 to an end face thereof. The inner margins of beads 26 mark the plane in which the cut is to be made to snip off the corner portion 24. A further indication of that plane may be made by providing a pair of arrows 27 which are stamped, molded or otherwise formed in the faces 25 so that each arrow points to a respective one of the beads 26. Each of those arrows may be accompanied by a legend (not shown) which reads, say, Snip Here, and which is imprinted on the spout adjacent the arrow (e.g., directly behind the arrow) by stamping, molding or printing on the material of the spout.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the embodiment of the cap 10' shown therein includes a spout 44 which is similar to that of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 4 except that the central portion thereof is enlarged to form a tubular portion 42 which serves to stiffen and strengthen the spout. A passage 44 of the spout 40 may be similarly enlarged, thereby enabling the strengthening of the corresponding portion of the male die used to mold the cap.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6 the upper corners 46 and 46 of the spout 4t) lying outside diagonal cutting planes are of reduced width so that shoulders 48 and 48' are defined in the walls of the spout. The passage 44 of the spout 46 is opened by cutting off one of the corners 46 and 46 generally along a plane defined by the corresponding shoulders 48 or 48'.

The spouts 2t) and 4d of the caps 14) and iii are so constructed that it is more diflicult to make a horizontal cut therein than the diagonal cut which snips ofi, respectively, corner 24 or corner 46 or 46. Specifically, because the spouts are horizontally elongated, a horizontal cut is longer and, therefore, harder to perform than the diagonal cutting d of corner. Further, because the thin portions of spouts have diminishing tapers in the upward direction, for any horizontal cut the span of material between the scissor blades at the start of the cut is thicker than the spout top which provides the span of material encountered by these blades at the start of a downward diagonal cut. Still further, because the faces 25 are smooth and because they slant towards each other in the upward direction, those faces afford a poor purchase for horizontally held scissor blades as compared to scissor blades held verti ally or even diagonally. Hence, horizontally held blades have a tendency to slip over those side faces rather than to cut through them. In the embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6, the tubular portion 42 aflords even greater resistance to a cutting of the spout 40 along a horizontal plane.

For all the reasons just enumerated, a user who is opening the caps or 10' does not make a horizontal out therein. Instead, the user invariably snips off a corner by moving the scissor blades or other cutting instrument in the plane extending along and adjacent to, in the case of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 4, the inner margins of the diagonal beads 26, such cutting location being indicated by arrows 27 and by the beads. While the cutting is taking place, the beads 26 serve as a visible guide of the plane in which the cut is to be, made. Moreover, the beads serve in a physical sense as guide members for the cutting instrument because those beads provide a tactilely discernable resistance if the cut tends to swerve so as, if continued, to transect the beads. In a similar manner, either corn-er 46 or 46 of the cap 16 of FIGS. 5 and 6 is snipped oif by cutting generally along the diagonal plane defined by the shoulders 4-8 or 43', the shoulders also serving as physical and visible guides for the cutting blade.

By cutting off the corner in the manner described to form an opening for the cap 10 or 10' of container 12, any liquid or other material forced through such opening by gripping pressure on the container will be directed generally perpendicular to the diagonal cut rather than in line with the axis of the container, i.e., vertically up wards when the container 12 is held vertically. At the same time, the described caps have the advantage characterizing conventional snip-oil caps opened by a horizontal cut that a residual amount of fluid left in the container may be downwardly ejected therefrom. Such downward ejection is realized with the opened cap by turning the container 12 upside down, allowing the fluid to run into the cap, tilting the container so that the diagonal cut in the spout is in a horizontal position, and then squeezing the container to force the ffuid generally vertically downward under pressure.

To provide adequate strength while still enabling the spouts to be easily snipped off, the caps may best be made from a relatively rigid plastic, such as high density polyethylene or polypropylene, by a suit-able molding process.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the above-described embodiment of the invention is capable of being varied considerably with respect to many details of form, material, size and shape without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is not to be considered as limited save as consonant with the recitals of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A cap for a container comprising a top portion, means to secure and seal the cap on the container, a spout projecting upwardly from said top portion, said spout being generally rectangular in horizontal cross section with its length in section being substantially greater than its width in section, a vertical passage within said spout and through said top portion, said passage termi nating short of the end of said spout away from said top portion, and guide means atan end of said spout to enable an end corner to be cut from said spout.

2. The cap as claimed in claim 1 in which the outer end of said spout lies substantially parallel to said top portion of the cap and forms sharp corners with the narrow sides of said spout.

3. The cap as claimed in claim 1 in which said passage is slot-like and of substantially the same shape as but smaller in length and width than said spout, thereby forming thin walls on said spout.

4. The cap as claimed in claim 1 in which said guide means comprises a bead projecting from each of its longer surfaces in close proximity to and diagonally across a corner-of said spout.

5. The cap as claimed in claim 1 in which said spout includes an enlarged portion intermediate the ends there-- of.

6. A cap for a container, comprising a top portion, means to secure and seal the cap on the container, a1 spout extending upwardly from said top portion and defining a passage having a closed outer end communicating through said top portion with the interior of the con-- tainer, saidspout including an enlarged portion, thin por-- tions extending from opposite sides of said enlarged portion, and means extending diagonally across an upper corner of at least one of said thinportions defining a. cutting plane along which said spout is adapted to be; cut to open it.

7. A cap for a container, comprising a top portion,, means to secure and seal the cap on the container, a. spout extending upwardly from said top portion and de-- fining a passage having a closed outer end communicating; through said top portion with the interior of the container, said spout having a small lateral dimension, a. substantially larger longitudinal dimension, and a verti-- cal dimension less than saidlongitudinal dimension so that the shortest length of straight out passing through. a given point required to open the passage in the spout is diagonally across a corner, and said spout including an enlarged portion,.thin portions extending from opposite sides of said enlarged portion, and means extending diagonally across an upper corner of at least one of said thin portions defining a cutting plane along which said spout is adapted to be cut to open it.

8. A cap for a container, comprising a top portion, means to secure and seal the cap on the container, a spout extending upwardly from said top portion, said spout defining a passage communicating through said top portion and having a small lateral dimension, a substantially larger longitudinal dimension, and a vertical dimension less than said longitudinal dimension, and means on said spout defining a cutting plane diagonally across an upper corner thereof along which said spout is adapted to be cut to open it.

9. A cap for a container, comprising a top portion, means to secure and seal the cap on the container, a

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,701,949 2/1929 Davenport 222-545 Smith 222541 X Woods 222541 X Allen 222-569 X Sherbondy 222541 X Stull 222-541 X Perkins 22254l Hoffmann 21541 Reiner 222541 X FOREIGN PATENTS 6/1960 Canada.

Canada.

RAPHAEL M. LUPO, Primary Examiner. 

1. A CAP FOR A CONTAINER COMPRISING A TOP PORTION, MEANS TO SECURE AND SEAL THE CAP ON THE CONTAINER, A SPOUT PROJECTING UPWARDLY FROM SAID TOP PORTION, SAID SPOUT BEING GENERALLY RECTANGULAR IN HORIZONTAL CROSS SECTION WITH ITS LENGTH IN SECTION BEING SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER THAN ITS WIDTH IN SECTION, A VERTICAL PASSAGE WITHIN SAID SPOUT AND THROUGH SAID TOP PORTION, SAID PASSAGE TERMINATING SHORT OF THE END OF SAID SPOUT AWAY FROM SAID TOP PORTION, AND GUIDE MEANS AT AN END OF SAID SPOUT TO ENABLE AN END CORNER TO BE CUT FROM SAID SPOUT. 